Power Line: Whence the memos?

September 10, 2004

Whence the memos?

According to Jim Geraghty's Kerry Spot report, CBS producers remain confident of the authenticity of the four 60 Minutes memos. Reports on the memos in the Washington Post and New York Times, however, add fresh details to issues regarding the documents' authenticity.

Alone among today's newspaper stories, Thomas Lipscomb's Chicago Sun-Times report recounts the role of the blogosphere in raising these issues: "Critical memos on Bush Guard service faked?" And distinguishing itself for the worst story of the day on the subject is -- who else? -- the AP, with a story carried by the Boston Globe: "Questions raised about Bush Guard service."

In his NRO column, Byron York puts the 60 Minutes memos in the context of the contemporaneous unquestionably authentic documents and demonstrates that, viewed together, they don't add up: "What the Bush Guard papers really say." Drudge has crashed Wlady Plesczynski's "Anatomy of a Forgery" (quoted by Rocket Man below) at the Spectator Online, but it strongly suggests the immediate provenance of the memos in the DNC/Kerry camp.

Mix Wlady P's report (when available) with Deacon's observations on Chris Lehane's Nightline appearance, with the AP's report (also carried by the Globe) on Kerry's campaign's launching of the "Fortunate Son" theme earlier this week, and with CBS's refusal to identify the source of the 60 Minutes memos. The combination might lead cynics to infer that Democratic operatives placed the memos with CBS.

The provenance of the memos is itself a factor to be weighed in determining their authenticity so long as their authenticity is reasonably in doubt. Where did CBS get them?

Posted by Scott at 08:36 AM |

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